Removing negative reviews

[Kevin Boyd]

I had a family booked this past weekend. After checking in they called and said there was mold in 1 of the 3 bathrooms at it was unsafe to stay there.  The truth is, there was a very small area of mold in the shower ceiling. It wiped right off with a sponge. Regardless, they refused to stay and received a full refund.

The guest then left a review saying all the bathrooms had mold and it was an unsafe house to stay in. Mind you, we’ve had 4 - 5 star reviews in the past 5 weeks.

His review was full of outrageous exaggerations and untruths.  Outright lies about a leaky roof, etc. Airbnb refuses to do anything about it. I had a mold expert out already who has verified there isn’t a mold issue and immediately took video that shows no other issues. What can I do to get the review removed?

[Collin Hays]

Originally posted by @Kevin Boyd:

Thanks for the replies. This has been a STR for about 4 years with over 100 5 star reviews. Eventually this review will be buried by dozens of good ones, but it will have an effect. This is the time of year I book up summer at very high rates. I'm sure it will be more difficult with this sitting at the top.

I am going to file a small claims action against his guest for $10k and hope to just get them to remove the review and I will drop the case.

 if you have that many positive reviews, I'd never think a thing about it.  It's not even a blip.  Move on.